Schools open today in many communities, including Lewiston, Auburn, Litchfield and Farmington. Classes began in Poland and Oxford on Tuesday.

How much do you know about Maine schools? Here’s a brief education, with no pop quiz to follow.

How many schools?

Maine has 737 schools, of which 620 are public. 

Source: Maine Department of Education

Enrollment is down

In 1990, 215,149 students attended Maine’s public elementary and high schools. That number has consistently fallen because of lower birthrates and out-migration. In 2000, statewide enrollment was 207,037; in 2010, it was 189,077; and in 2015, it was 185,900.

Enrollment has fallen despite the fact that in the past decade, Maine schools opened prekindergarten classes and added thousands of pupils to enrollment numbers. (In April, Maine had 5,385 prekindergarten students.)

Enrollment has not fallen in Lewiston, which has gained about 100 students per year during the past five years. In the fall of 2015, the city had gained 250 students when schools opened. In 2015, Lewiston had 5,281 students; Auburn had 3,581.

Nationally, public school enrollment increased between 1990 and 2015, from 41.2 million to 49.8 million.

Source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education.

Back-to-school shopping

Nationally, parents will spend about $179 per child on back-to-school shopping, according to a Parenting.com survey.

The National Retail Federation says families haven’t yet finished shopping, but a typical family will spend about $673 for grades K-12 for back-to-school clothes, electronics, footwear and supplies. After Christmas, back-to-school is the second biggest shopping season of the year.

Fashion on the playground

Popular trends in girls’ and boys’ clothing this year include jogger pants, overalls, Bohemian-chic peasant tops, maxi skirts, puffer vests, boys’ plaid shirts with skinny ties, skinny khakis, gray denim and midtop sneakers, according to  Family Education.

More in-style looks, as illustrated by national retail stores, include leggings, moto jackets, and graphic T-shirts displaying superheroes, movie characters, animals and sports teams.

Per-pupil spending

Per-pupil spending nationwide shows that in 2014, Maine was the 15th highest, according to Governing magazine.

Maine spent an average of $12,707 per pupil. Vermont spent $16,988; Massachusetts, $15,087. Nationally, the per-pupil spending was $11,009 in 2014.

The state with the highest per-pupil spending was New York at $20,610. States that spent the least were Utah, at $6,500 per pupil; and Idaho, at $6,621.

Locally, during the 2014-15 school year, Lewiston spent $10,951 per pupil; Auburn, $10,322, according to the Maine Department of Education.

WalletHub: Maine has the 8th best education

The personal-finance website WalletHub conducted an analysis of 2016’s States with the Best & Worst School Systems, an analysis that was released earlier this month.

WalletHub said its analysts compared the quality of education in the 50 states and the District of Columbia based on 17 key metrics; the data set included pupil-teacher ratio, dropout rates and average SAT and ACT scores. On scores of 1 to 51, WalletHub ranked Maine:

• 19th in math;

• 17th in reading;

• 3rd in pupil-teacher ratio;

• 16th in dropout rate;

• 4th in school safety;

• 4th in average ACT score; and 

• 4th in “bookworms.” 

To see the report, visit wallethub.com/edu/states-with-the-best-schools/5335/

Thousands of bus miles

School buses log a lot of miles every day. Four years ago, School Administrative District 17 in Oxford Hills collectively drove 4,400 miles per school day, Superintendent Rick Colpitts said.

Since then, routes have been consolidated to cut costs. The rural district is geographically large and covers eight towns, including Harrison, Oxford and Paris.

Lewiston buses collectively drive more than 3,000 miles a day, but many of those miles are transport special education students to programs in other cities, including Portland, Superintendent Bill Webster said.

Auburn buses drive on average more than 2,000 miles per day, but that number includes summer runs, field trips and athletic trips, Superintendent Katy Grondin said.